Home Market Releases for April 23rd, 2019

April 24th, 2019

It is another slow week on the home market, but that gave me a chance to complete a couple of late reviews. The best release on this week’s list is A Face in the Crowd and it is the Pick of the Week. However, both of the late reviews, On the Basis of Sex and Willie Dynamite, are worth picking up. More...

International Box Office: Captain Marvel Hits $750 million Worldwide in Two Weeks

March 20th, 2019

Captain Marvel continued to dominated the competition earning first place on the international chart with $119.7 million in 54 markets for totals of $494.0 million internationally and $758.9 million worldwide. This is already ahead of 10 previous installments in the MCU. The film opened in its last market, Japan, earning first place with $5.6 million. It also earned $23.83 million in China for a two-week total of $131.84 million. This is down by 72% from its opening weekend, which is a sharp decline, even for China, but not a disaster. The film held on better in the rest of the international markets; in fact, on average, it held on better than it did here. This puts $1 billion worldwide within reach, likely by next week, and it might even reach the top five for the MCU. More...

International Box Office: Dragons Regain Top Spot

March 7th, 2019

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World returned to first place on the international chart in almost exactly a month. It earned $54.9 million in 60 markets for totals of $280.9 million internationally and $378.6 million worldwide. The film debuted in first place in China with $33.38 million in approximately 10,000 theaters. It has yet to open in Japan and could break even before it gets there. It depends on how long its legs are and how much its advertising budget was. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Upside Surprises Landing on Top Earning STX its First First Place

January 15th, 2019

The first major surprise of the year happened over the weekend, as The Upside beat expectations earning first place with $20.36 million. The overall box office fell 14% from last weekend dropping to $119 million. This is 25% lower than the same weekend last year, but that was MLK Day long weekend, so this kind of difference was expected. More...

Weekend Estimates: Upside Surprises as Box Office Slows

January 13th, 2019

It wasn’t exactly a great weekend at the box office, but The Upside was the rare exception. The film is estimated to open with $19.59 million. The audiences clearly liked the film better than critics did, as its reviews are mixed, while it got an A from CinemaScore. This makes sense, as the most common complaint from critics were the clichés. The average moviegoer only sees one movie in a theater every other month, whereas the average critic will see two or more movies a week. Clichés are a lot less tolerable when you see them ten times as often as part of your job. The film’s estimates are much better than its predictions and great for a film that cost $37.5 million to make. Furthermore, the news is even better for STX Entertainment, as they didn’t spend nearly that much on the domestic rights, so they will be in the black very soon. More...

Friday Estimates: Box Office is Turned Upside Down

January 12th, 2019

The Upside surprised box office analysts with $6.95 million on Friday, knocking Aquaman out of first place on the daily chart. This is very likely enough to knock it out of first place on the weekend chart as well, becoming STX’s first number one hit. Most critics didn’t like the movie, but few hated it. Audiences, on the other hand, loved the movie, giving it an A from CinemaScore. If this translates into long legs, then it could earn first place with as much as $20 million, but $19 million is more likely at this point. More...

Weekend Predictions: Is Dog’s Home at the Top of the Box Office?

January 10th, 2019

There are three or four new releases that should reach the top ten, depending on how you look at things. A Dog’s Way Home is by far the biggest of these and has a not unreasonable shot at opening in first place. I think Aquaman will defend its crown, but it should at least be close. The Upside is the only other new release with a better than 50/50 shot of earning a spot in the top five. Replicas, on the other hand, is widely expected to bomb. The last “new” release is On the Basis of Sex, which is expanding nearly truly wide and it has an outside chance of earning a spot in the top five. This weekend last year was MLK Day long weekend. If 2019 doesn’t lose the year-over-year comparison by more than 20%, then it will be a reason to celebrate. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Aquaman Leads the Way, While Most of Top Five Thrives

January 8th, 2019

It was a good weekend at the box office as four of the top five films beat expectations. This includes Aquaman, which led the way with $31.00 million. Overall, the weekend was down by 26% from last weekend, falling to $138 million, but this was a post-holiday weekend, so this was to be expected. Compared to the same weekend last year, 2019 got off to a 16% slower start. More...

Weekend Estimates: Aquaman Completes Threepeat, Escape Room Thrives

January 6th, 2019

Aquaman is holding on even better than expected with an estimated $30.7 million over the weekend for a total of $259.7 million after three weeks of release. The film will have no trouble topping $300 million domestically, and it might be able to climb a spot or two on the DCEU chart before it is done. Internationally, the film is doing even better with an estimated $56.2 million on 18,900 screens in 79 markets for an international total of $681 million. It is the biggest international hit for a D.C. film, topping The Dark Knight. It has $940.7 million worldwide and will crack $1 billion shortly. More...

Friday Estimates: Aquaman Can’t Escape Top Spot

January 5th, 2019

Aquaman won the race for first place on the Friday box office chart, although it wasn’t as easy as originally expected. The film earned $9.3 million on Friday, lifting its running tally to $238.3 million after 15 days of release. It is on pace for $30 million over the weekend and $300 million in total. More...

Thursday Night Previews: Room Escapes Limited Expectations

January 4th, 2019

Escape Room started its box office run with $2.3 million in previews. This is more than Insidious: The Last Key opened with last year and about double what I was anticipating. It is such a large leap from expectations that it is hard to judge where it goes from here. Its reviews suggest better than average legs for a low-budget horror movie, but we will have to wait till this time tomorrow to have a real idea of where it will go. More...

Weekend Predictions: Can Escape Find Room in the Top Five?

January 3rd, 2019

It is the first weekend of 2019 and there are not many new releases to talk about. In fact, there’s just one: Escape Room. It should do relatively well, given its low-budget nature, but it won’t knock Aquaman out of first place. In fact, it very likely won’t knock Mary Poppins Returns out of second place. This weekend last year, Insidious: The Last Key opened with nearly $30 million and it wasn’t even able to earn first place. This year, no film will match The Last Key, so 2019 will start on a losing note. More...

Preview: January

January 1st, 2019

December would have been an excellent month, except it had to be compared to Star Wars: The Last Jedi. The top four movies of this December might not finish with as much as that movie made. That said, the year ended on an overall positive note finishing with a lead of close to $800 million over 2017. Unfortunately, 2019 is going to get off to a slow start. Not only are there very few films opening wide this month, only one of them, Glass, is expected to be a midlevel hit or better. Granted, Glass is expected to earn more than $100 million domestically, which is something no film released last January could do. However, The Last Jedi and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle both had such incredible legs that 2019 will still get off to a slower start, even if it has stronger new releases. More...

Escape Room Trailer

November 5th, 2018

Horror movie opens January 4 ... Full Movie Details. More...